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What Arsenal have ‘internally’ decided about Raheem Sterling’s future as they expect him to finally step up

Srinivas Sadhanand

Wed 26 February 2025 14:15, UK

When Raheem Sterling moved to Arsenal on loan from Chelsea, it seemed like he was granted the perfect opportunity to get his career back on track.

But a reunion with Mikel Arteta𓄧 from his time at Manchester City has seemingly had little to no impact in bringing the Englishman back to the winger who was one of the best in the world at the Etihad Stadium.

Figures at Arsenal respect Sterling’s hard work🗹 in training but so far, it seems to be going to waste as the four-time Premier League winner was dropped from the Gunners’ starting XI as they lost 1-0 to West Ham United.

There seemed to be a degree of belief in the 30-year-old returning to his best at the Emirates Stadium, with 𓄧Arsenal choosing not to cancel Sterling’s loan deal as well.

But when Raheem Sterling🌜 has been given a chance as a starter against both Tottenham Hotspur in December and Leicester City recently, he has looked miles off it.

ཧThe Kingston-born wideman no longer seems to possess the blistering pace, quick feet and intelligent movement that made him one of the most complete forwards in Europe a few years ago — prompting Mikel Arteta’s side to make a decision about his future.

Arsenal not set to sign Raheem Sterling permanently

Arsenalꦦ have decided not to sign Sterling permanently at the end of the season but they do expect him to deliver on the pitch now — as revealed by Fabrizio Romano.

ღRomano told : “Expecting the player to deliver more for the final months of the season, then the expectation is for Sterling to return to Chelsea and not staying at Arsenal next season. That’s the clear feeling internally.”

The decorated goalscorer will likely be disappointed about the decision but as Ian Wright claimed, it is “sad” watching Sterling be such a shadow of his former self.

ꦅGary Neville pinpointed Sterling’s struggles as Arsenal♓ as well and in his opinion, the reason behind his decline is due to starting his professional career at a very young age.

🌞The Manchester United legend might be spot on as since leaving Manchester City, the former Liverpool speedster has registered just 20 goals and 14 assists in 101 appearances.

While Leandro Trossard has lauded Sterling’s attitudeꩵ and how much he helps the young players at Arsenal, he has failed to showcase his experience on the pitch.

ꦑBut Arsenal should not be too surprised by Sterling’s failures due to two reasons.

ওFirstly, because the England international was a declining asset in the first place coupled with Edu Gaspar’s comments after his loan deal was confirmed.

Edu said Arsenal never planned to sign Sterling in the first place

𝕴Edu claimed Arsenal never planned to sign Sterling🌃 and just took a chance on bringing him to N5 due to his experience.

ꦜ“Well, to be fair, we never planned, really, to sign him when we started the transfer window, yeah, just to be very transparent, for different reasons.

💎“But we always say to everyone, you have to be prepared for every scenario, so when that opportunity came to me, and I checked our squad, I checked how he plays, I spoke to Mikel of course, I spoke to Tim, our vice-chairman, to check if everyone is comfortable for the step that we’re going to make (signing Sterling on loan).

🔯Edu added: “Makes a lot of sense to have someone like him because I’m pretty sure that he’s going to add a lot in the squad, so he has experience – he understands more than anyone, the league.

♉“He plays Champions League many times, won the Premier League a few times as well, so I think he can add a lot to our squad.”

⛦Considering Arsenal had no plan in place when signing Sterling, it should not be too much of a shock that the loan deal has failed to work out.

ꦯThe best move for all parties, as planned is to go their separate ways now.